How do you set up a fresh expression of church in an affluent 'commuter' village? Klynn and Susan Alibocus have been helping to lead Food for Thought in Winterslow near Salisbury for the past three years. They're still on a steep learning curve, as they explain.
Changing work commitments saw us move from suburban Kent to a large south Wiltshire village, and that was quite a shock at first. It really was a very different world but we chose Winterslow for many reasons, mainly its busy community life and the fact that it was home to four active churches of different denominations.
At the time, before the term 'fresh expression of church' was commonly known, Winterslow did benefit from having a number of outreach activities going on in the area. Despite that, we still felt there was a gap in bringing the message of Christ to the unchurched and dechurched community in a new and fresh way.
Some years previously we had been involved in setting up The Carpenter's Arms, Sandwich, working with a team experienced in instigating one of the earliest Anglican church plants in Deal and we had a heart to carry this work on.
As an affluent 'commuter' rural village, Winterslow's needs aren't as obvious as those of other places. Setting up a fresh expression of church to make the message of Christ relevant to such a community was therefore somewhat more challenging.
A few of us who went to the parish church of All Saints, Winterslow, started to look at the possibility of creating a more accessible, non-traditional and complementary fresh expression of church in the village.
We came up with some specific ideas after a workshop exercise in which we looked at How To Make The Worst Church Service Ever! In it, we listed all the things that we normally do as part of church that may put someone off if they haven't been to church before. Then we tried to understand those barriers and come up with ways to remove them.
We decided that the new-look church service should involve Welcome, Word, Worship and Witness. Much prayer and planning went into the original proposal. Thankfully our vicar, Revd Nils Bersweden, and the PCC, gave us their blessing and we got the go-ahead to begin a monthly meeting in the village hall.
Food for Thought emphasises good food, short services, plenty for children to do and an informal atmosphere. Many people have found that it's right for them, and we continue to welcome in newcomers who want to find out more about us and more about God.
Many commuters miss out on daily village life. Food for Thought connects people, particularly families, to hear the message of Christ, have fun, eat together and bring back that sense of community.
Using our rural environment to our advantage we regularly go on picnics, nature walks, and so on; often networking with other village organisations such as the Scouts, Brownies, conservation groups and local charities to see how we can support each other. On one occasion we were granted private access to Salisbury Cathedral for a treasure hunt followed by fish and chips in the cloisters. About 60 people came to that.
The Ven Alan Jeans, Archdeacon of Sarum, really helped us to look at where we were going with Food for Thought and why. We looked at questions like: 'Are you really a fresh expression or have you just moved "church" into the village hall?' We also considered: 'How will Food for Thought nurture people into the wider Church?'
We think it very important to keep it truly fresh so we're encouraging leadership potential with different people taking on responsibility for organising services. For the first six months we were pretty much running the whole thing but we didn't want to be seen as the husband and wife double act who do it all. That doesn't help us, or encourage discipleship and the building of community.
We also regularly change the layout of the hall; it sounds quite a small thing to do but it's very effective in staving off complacency about the way a place 'should' look. Varying the activities or location or timings or leaders is all useful in keeping the momentum going.
A survey told us, yes, people like it and we must continue, but we feel there's still so much to do. To say it's been easy and a record of successes would be far from the truth. On the contrary, there have been highs and lows and that learning curve can be very steep. However, we marked our 3rd birthday on 24th January with a Scottish ceilidh – plenty of food, dancing and live music from a piper. There's plenty to celebrate. The Revd Cynthia Buttimer, a team curate at All Saints is tremendously supportive and she joins in as one of the many wonderful Food for Thought volunteers who make it all happen.
Looking back, it's clear to see that when you're willing to take that leap of faith, God will be with you every step of the way. At times it's exciting, frustrating or just plain old hard work, but there's nowhere else we'd rather be.
Kevin Metcalf, Church Army Evangelist, describes his early attempts at pioneering in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
At present there is very little for younger people to do on the Bloomfield Estate, so I have been developing relationships with community workers to identify needs. I am passionate about children's work, so I have been focusing on activities that engage with younger people and provide positive opportunities. Although local young people have a lot of religious and bible knowledge through school education, many do not have a form of the Christian faith that resources their life. For example, at the local school of three hundred and fifty young people, only fifty have a stated religious affiliation, leaving three hundred with none. So in the context of Northern Ireland this is a bit of a paradox. Even though it is a very ‘religious' country, many do not have a committed faith that they find to be spiritually resourcing. My aim then is to enable younger people to come to faith and experience Jesus in a real and living way, not just knowing about him, but knowing him personally. Through this, I want to see whole families come to faith.
So far, I have built up connections with a local school, and a community association in the Council Estate. At the school I have been engaged with children through assemblies and after school clubs. In these times I have been using crafts and other activities as well as talking about God. In the Community house we have been running a 'Kidz Klub', using similar activities with a limited number of children as the space is quite small. To build on these relationships and see the work develop and grow, we have started running another Kidz Klub in the local primary school and a team of Christian volunteers visit the homes of the children who attend. Our first night we had 48 children! Through this we are building relationships with families on the estate and discovering how we can help support the wider environment of the children and witness to God's love.
The use of this primary school, I think will give us the space to build up a fresh expression of church. We are very aware that the local middle-class forms of traditional church are an alien environment for many people coming from the Bloomfield Estate. So we hope that a 'Messy Church' approach will be flexible, accessible and more laid-back and therefore appropriate. This will enable people to explore Christian spirituality, and the big issues of life, but also an opportunity to build relationships with local people.